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Turbines from the Mount Storm Wind Farm stand in the distance behind the Dominion Mount Storm power station August 22, 2022, in Mount Storm, West Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
This week Hudson Institute launched [[link removed]] its Initiative on American Energy Security, which will examine and promote energy policies that prioritize energy security, economic security, and national security and propose a realistic path to transition to renewable energy sources. Senior Fellow Brigham McCown [[link removed]] will lead the initiative. In RealClearEnergy [[link removed]], he addresses why the United States is facing an energy and inflation crisis, and offers recommendations for how to respond. Below are some highlights.
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Key Insights
1. Energy Inflation Is a Threat to American Security
Today’s economic and security headwinds have extended into the energy sector, where prices have outpaced inflation while production remains below pre-pandemic levels. Natural gas prices have more than doubled and are expected to increase further as we appropriately move to shore up our European allies with natural gas made necessary by Russia’s weaponization of energy. Similarly, crude oil prices have also dramatically increased, and recent modest declines still leave prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, and other oil products priced well above pre-pandemic levels. The reason for this imbalance is simple: demand has returned, but oil and gas production has not. What has become clear is the continuing requirement for an all-the-above approach to energy markets, as neither fossil fuels nor renewables alone can meet demand today.
2. Focus on the Best Energy Mix
We need to focus on providing the best mix of energy today and into the future. By doing so, the Biden administration can effectively address core inflation, provide reliable energy supplies to our allies, and reduce geopolitical risk and instability to world energy markets exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This approach requires policymakers to ensure the energy mix is comprised of fuel sources that are available, reliable, and affordable while guaranteeing the resiliency of our energy and transportation infrastructure. Resiliency means providing the right fuel source to where and when it is needed without interruption.
3. Curb Excessive Permitting and Approval Processes
While the mix of renewables will undoubtedly grow over time, today’s high prices directly reflect the absence of sufficient supplies of fossil fuels in our current energy mix. Facilitating higher domestic oil and gas production by curbing excessive permitting and approval processes will address runaway energy costs—especially as we have promised to come to Europe’s rescue by providing them with fossil energy supplies this winter. Meaningful change can occur almost overnight by ordering executive branch agencies to act with a sense of urgency as the current dilatory pace is choking the country’s efficiency and productivity.
Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.
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How We Can Help Europe Fight Back against Putin’s Gas Warfare [[link removed]]
America can no longer afford to fight Putin's energy tyranny with one hand tied behind its back. Hudson Senior Fellow Brigham McCown [[link removed]] explains in the New York Post [[link removed]]why the US needs to use every resource at its disposal to weaken Putin's main source of leverage over the West.
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Iran Is Not the Answer to Europe's Energy Crisis [[link removed]]
As European policymakers become more desperate to find alternatives to Russian energy, they are looking toward Iran. Senior Fellow Luke Coffey [[link removed]] writes in Arab News [[link removed]] why Europeans should not rely on Tehran to rescue them, and and he explains what the Biden administration can do to help.
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Taiwan Needs US Help on Energy Security [[link removed]]
Taiwan depends desperately on energy imports to fuel its economy, but recent Chinese military exercises demonstrate how Beijing could threaten this vulnerability. In RealClearEnergy [[link removed]], Senior Fellow Thomas J. Duesterberg [[link removed]] and Research Fellow Abby Fu [[link removed]] consider how the US and its allies can ensure that energy shortages do not cripple or intimidate the island.
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